Chapter Forty-Seven: The Colors of Manchester

Manchester United picked up a draw in a cold Russia.

When the United players returned to Manchester from Moscow, they were less than two days away from the Manchester derby in the first leg of the season. Such a schedule is quite a serious test for Manchester United's fitness.

Fortunately, Manchester United did not consume much on the road and, most importantly, there were no injuries or attrition.

Back in Manchester, the United players only had time to get a night's sleep before the Manchester derby was just around the corner.

On October 25, after Li Qingshan got up from the bed and washed up, he put on his backpack and went out.

Li Qingshan lives in the west of Manchester, where the majority of Manchester people are Manchester United fans, while Manchester to the east is mostly blue.

Li Qingshan walked out of the door, and there was already a taxi waiting there at the door.

This is Martin, a new friend of Li Qingshan after returning to Manchester United, and every morning and afternoon, the taxi driver Martin waits at Li Qingshan's accommodation and Carrington training base.

Li Qingshan originally planned to get a driver's license and buy a car or something, but now, with Martin's warm service, Li Qingshan has postponed his driver's license plan indefinitely.

Martin is a big man, about 110 kilograms, and his horizontal range is much larger than Li Qingshan. Every time Li Qingshan saw the driver's seat ravaged by a mass of more than 100 kilograms of round cellulite, he was silent for three minutes for the poor taxi.

Martin is a native of Manchester, an extreme Manchester United fan, and a chatterbox.

For him, there are only three things in life: his taxi, his rum, and his Manchester United team. He believes in Manchester United, and he also believes that the louder he yells at the TV, the more he will influence the course of the game – as evidenced by United's numerous comebacks...

Of course, this is not a good thing for his neighbors.

"You didn't drink to work today, Martin!"

Li Qingshan pulled the co-pilots and went up and fastened their seat belts.

"Lee! I'm a professional and conscientious driver! I can tell the difference between going to work and leaving work, OK?! Martin said, rolling his eyes.

As he spoke, the taxi also started and drove towards the Karrington training base!

Li Qingshan needs to go to the training base first, and then in the afternoon, the whole team will take the bus to Old Trafford.

Although the game is still seven or eight hours away, the atmosphere of the derby is already quite strong on the streets of Manchester.

Many houses have flags of support for the team hanging from the windows, and of course, Manchester United are the majority.

When Li Qingshan was in China before, he had heard such a statement, although Manchester United is one of the most successful clubs in the world, Manchester City is far from being comparable to Manchester United in terms of heritage, and in the world, Manchester United has far more fans than Manchester City fans, and in Manchester, Manchester City has more fans than Manchester United.

This is based on the fact that Manchester United fans often make fun of Manchester City for not winning a major trophy for a long time (35 years of title drought); And because Old Trafford is just outside the city of Manchester, Manchester City fans say Manchester United are not from Manchester City at all.

With Old Trafford no longer within the Manchester metropolitan area, Manchester United don't have as many fans there as Manchester City. At first glance, this statement seems quite plausible, after all, the community nature of English football is very strong.

But when Li Qingshan came to Manchester, he found that this was not the case.

Li Qingshan also asked Martin about this question, but Martin looked at Li Qingshan with disdain.

"You know what, Lee! When I was in school, there were at least twenty times as many Manchester United fans as Manchester City fans! That's right, twenty times! Martin said categorically.

Of course, Martin's statement is obviously a boast, but even in Manchester, there are more United fans than Manchester City fans.

Li Qingshan has lived in Manchester for a few years, and his feelings are quite intuitive.

And before the start of this season, Premier League TV broadcaster Sky Sports TV did a special investigation. They analysed live streaming data from 500,000 TV subscribers in 118 postal areas of the UK to find the Premier League clubs that are most watched by TV viewers in each region of the UK. Manchester United topped the table and are among the most watched Premier League clubs in all 49 zones.

In Manchester, Manchester United are undoubtedly dominant. The number of fans, both in Manchester and in the UK, is the majority of Manchester United. This is the latest survey from Sky Sports UK.

Across the region, Manchester United obviously have more fans than Manchester City, but in the city of Manchester, the two sides are evenly matched, and when derby day comes, the city is red and blue, regardless of the number of fans on both sides, and they will never lose to each other in terms of momentum.

Red and blue are so distinct on this day and day. Even the cars that are running on the road have many flags poking their flags out of their windows to indicate their colors on the day of Derby.

With the blood transfusion of Manchester City by Middle Eastern tycoons, Manchester City, who had been unable to beat Manchester United for ten consecutive years, has now won the Premier League twice. Especially in the 2011-2012 season, in the final game of the league against Queen's Park, in the five-minute injury time, Aguero scored a decisive goal in the 94th minute of the game, 3-2 to complete the reversal of the goal, not only the game reversed Queens Park Rangers, but also the season reversal, in the last minute of the league, reversed Manchester United, after 44 years, once again won the top league title.

What was once England's No. 1 derby was undoubtedly a duel between Manchester United and Liverpool. However, with Liverpool without a league title for more than 20 years, the gold content of the Double Red Club has inevitably declined.

The Manchester derby now receives as much attention as the Double Red Cross. This is one of the most adaptable contests in the Premier League, if you only look at the Premier League era, from Manchester United dominance to the rise of Manchester City, from the two giants taking turns to win the championship to the moon after the retirement of the lord, from 1-6 at the Theatre of Dreams to 4-2 last season, the Manchester derby is full of dramatic tension. None of the previous 12 meetings between the two sides have been drawn, and all of them have been decided. The two sides have won six games each, and they are evenly divided.

With the retirement of Alex Ferguson, Manchester United has fallen from the clouds in the past two seasons, while Manchester City have maintained a strong league competitiveness.

This season, Manchester United waved cheques, Li Qingshan joined, and Carlo Ancelotti took charge of Old Trafford. Rise strong in the league.

The old king wants to be restored, and the new king is trying to protect the throne.

Such a drama, how not to make the red and blue sides boil!